One night in the Woods
by ShadowMellow
Summary: One-Shot. On a christmas party, Minato is reflecting on the recent death of a friend when an unlikely companion came up to him. Prequel to Another Story. Cameo of Tatsuya Suou. P2/P3


Here's a little Christmas special for my story "Persona 3: Another Story" but I think it can be read without reading it. It's kinda a prequel for it and with a cameo of Tatsuya Suou, the protagonist of Persona 2. Innocent sin. If you haven't played the game yet, get the ISO, Epsxe and get going! It really is great, although the gameplay does take some time to get used to. But once you got it, you will have fun for several weeks! Or at least I did, since I'm not that good at games.

Anyway, enjoy the story!

Disclaimer: I don't own Persona!

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"Alright, kids, have fun!" Their aunt said and ran off to the other adults at the other side of the park. Minato just stood there for a minute, not moving from his spot. It has only been a few months since his best friend Kage died and there were rumors about him being responsible for it. But of course, no one of his relatives cared about that. In fact, they didn't care at all. They just said it wasn't any of his concern and told to concentrate on his studies. He knelt down in the snow and picked some of it up with his hand until his fingers began to turn red. How can they say that it wasn't any of his concern? His best friend died and he had to move away right after it. Now everyone thinks he is a killer and even here in Sumaru city people were wary of him. He didn't even know how they got the idea. He wasn't even near her house as it happened. He looked up at the other children who were happily chatting and drinking hot chocolate. He quickly spotted the red head of Hamuko as she talked to one of the boys, getting all the attention. He softly smiled at her, raised to his feet and stepped back into the woods. He made sure no one saw him go and ran into the small forest. When he wasn't able to hear the party noises anymore, he leaned back against one of the trees. The boy closed him eyes, enjoying the silence. He never noticed how relaxing it was to be alone. He stood there for about five minutes until he heard a rustling from behind him. The bluenette swiftly turned around, raising his fists. The five years Karate weren't for nothing after all. But he quietly wondered about how he hadn't seen it coming. His foresight was always coming at the most stupidest occasions but if he really needed it, it never came. He observed that certain spot for a while but stepped back surprised when a swearing red-head came out of it.

"Stupid Aniki... Dragging me to parties when he knows I don't want to..." He mumbled, picking the leaves out of his hair. Minato flinched a little when he noticed how deep his voice was. The other boy looked like about sixteen and his hair was in an odd bowl cut. The bluenette noted that it looked similar to an octopus. He wore a dirty red sweat-shirt with a black jacket thrown over it. It looked pretty cold but the red-head didn't seem to mind. He just stood there for a few moments before he noticed the smaller in front of him who had already lowered his fists to his sides. He took a step back but quickly regained his composure, coughing a little. "Sorry, I didn't know someone was already here. I will go now." He wanted to turn around but the shorter stopped him, grabbing onto his sleeve.

"It's alright, I don't mind. Why don't we sit down and talked for a bit?" he asked with a small smile on his face, hoping he didn't sound as desperate like he thought he did. The taller just nodded and sat down on a stone that was lying at the edge of the small road that leaded through the forest. They just sat there for several minutes, neither of them knowing what to say. When it began to get really awkward, the younger spoke up. "O-Oh I haven't introduced myself, right? I'm Minato Arisato, and what's your name?" The brunette-almost-red looked at him for some time and as the young Arisato was about to give up, he answered.

"Tatsuya Suou."

"Oh, Suou-san, is it? Well, do you have any hobbies or something? Have you been living in Sumaru for long?" He waited for a few minutes again but when he noticed he probably won't get an answer, he sighed. "Not really a talkative one, are you? Well, normally I'm not either. I just have this urge to talk to someone and I have this feeling like you will understand me." Again, only silence greeted him but he kept on talking. "You know, my parents died in a car crash a few years back. I'm not sure what really happened, but I heard it was bad. Like, they got squashed inside the car. I don't know how me or Aneki survived..." he turned his head to the other and smiled a little. "Oh, right. I've got an older twin sister. She's the cooler one of us. She's strong, courageous and can talk to people without stuttering unlike me." His face saddened and he looked down to his feet. "But for some reason she keeps acting cold toward me... I wonder if she gives me the fault of their deaths..." He trailed off and then didn't say another word. Silence fell over them and it kept on for a little while.

"I think I know what you mean. My parents didn't die, but I also have an older brother. He acts pretty cold toward me since out dad was taken out of force. He was a policeman. I don't even know why he would do that but he does and there's seems to be nothing I can do about it. Well, at least he sometimes tries to be nice, but it usually goes the other way." Tatsuya said, slowly, seemingly not knowing why he told the other boy that stuff. A soft smile spread over the younger's face and pulled his legs close to his chest.

"Well, although he sounds pretty clumsy, he seems like a nice guy." The bluenette began to bury his head in his knees and his voice became gradually lower. "But the worst thing is that my best friends died a few months ago. I wasn't even able to go to her funeral because I had to move here. They try to hide it, but even here people are talking behind my back. They think I was the one who killed her and this stuff. I had promised that we would spent today together and we would bake again. Now that promise became futile..." Now his whole face was buried in his arms and his shoulders began to shake. The older watched him awkwardly, looked away and then seemed to have an idea.

"Hey." The smaller looked up to him, tears at the corner of his eyes. "Chin up. I'm not sure who this girls was, but I am sure she didn't want you to be sad. She's gone now, but that doesn't make the world end. You have to look up ahead and keep on living. That's what she probably wants, too. Plus, you still have your sister. Even if things are not okay right now, you still have the chance to change that all." Minato looked at him, eyes wide. He hadn't expected that to come from the other but soon he began to smile brightly, rubbing his eyes with his sleeve.

"You're right. No time for moping around, I can still make something out of my life. I will keep on living and make my dreams reality, for the two of us." he said, new found resolution shining in his eyes. Tatsuya raised his hand and patted his head a bit and the shorter beamed at him. They sat there for quite some time, talking about random stuff, the atmosphere much lighter than before. But when the bluenette took a glace at his wrist watch, he jumped to his feet. "Damn it, it's already that late! For how long have we been talking! We have to go back now, or the others will worry!" The two of them ran through the forest and when they finally arrived at the park, an red-haired man in his early twenties greeted them.

"Tatsuya, just what were you thinking? Don't run off like that!" He took a small glace at the bluenette and fiddled with his sunglasses. (Makes him wonder why someone would wear sunglasses during winter.) "And who is that?"

"U-Um, I am Minato Arisato. I-I should go to my family now." He turned the younger red-head and bowed a little. "T-Thanks for listening to me, Suou-san. I have to go now." He received a small smile which pretty much surprised him and a pat on his head.

"It's fine, maybe we can repeat it some other time?" He gave him a shaky nod and ran off, searching for his sister. In the distant he could hear the two elders shouting but he doubted it was anything serious. He kept looking around and after some time he found Hamuko leaning against a tree, exhaustion visible on her face. He walked up to the girl, lightly tapping her on her shoulder, making her jump and almost hitting him into the face if he hadn't dodged.

"Nice to see you, too, Aneki. Sorry about walking off, I just had to be alone for a while." He said, smiling all the while. She just stared at him for a moment but then humphed and turned away from him. Just as he thought they would go home, something hit him square in the face. He blinked and removed that something from his nose. It seemed to be a present in blue paper and he looked over to his older twin who still refused to look at him. "Um, what is this?" he asked and her ears began to turn red.

"It's a gift, dumbass! You gave me mine this morning, right? It's only fair if I give you one, too! But don't think too much about it!" She shouted, still not facing him. He slowly unwrapped the paper and his eyes widened when he saw what was inside. "You wanted new headphones, right? So I bought you a pair. I just bought the same model because they were cheap, so don't you dare think anything else!" He smiled a little at that obvious lie. She knew just as good as he does that those headphones wear worth quite a bit but he just let it go. He walked up to her and gave her a small kiss on the cheek, making her jump again and run away. The bluenette chuckled as he saw her run, fully content. Even if Kage died, the earth will keep on turning and he will keep on living. He lost one friend but gained a new one. Even if he didn't exactly know what tomorrow may bring, he will keep on going and make his dreams come true.

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Done! I know it's not much, but I still hope you liked it. At first I thought it would end in an disaster but I think it turned out pretty good.

Merry Christmas! Your Shadow!


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